Registering apparatus



M y 6, 1930- s. D. M KE LLEN 1,757,324

. I REGISTERING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 19, 1929 Patented May 6, 1930 PATENT; OFFICE SAMUEL DUNSEITH MCKELLEN, OF LONDON, ENGLAND REGISTERING APPARATUS Application filed October 19, 1929, Serial No. 400,897, and in Great Britain October 17, 1928.

" working and return strokes of a plunger which operates the counting mechanism in a positive and eflicient manner.

The present invention is particularly applicable to the operation of those odometers in which the reciprocating movement of a plunger serves to actuate a spring pawl and ratchet mechanism of known type.

According to the present invention, the

odometer or like registering apparatus is provided with means for actuating the counting mechanism comprising a reciprocating plunger mounted on a spring diaphragm, the movements of the plunger being obtained in one direction by relative rotary motion between the plunger and an obliquely inclined disk, and in the opposite direction by the spring diaphragm on which the plunger is mounted. Two members each having a disk 7 with an operative face inclined obliquely to the axis of the disk are engaged together, one of said membersbeing non-rotating and the other positively rotated. One of said members is secured to one side of the spring diaphragm and the plunger projects from the other side of said diaphragm. This spring diaphragm is secured at its periphery to the casing of the odometer or like registering apparatus.

The invention is hereafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which 1- Figure 1 is a central sectional elevation of an odometer fitted inside the hub of a vehicle road wheel.

Figure 2 is a front view of the spring diaphragm. Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 but in section on the line 33 of Figure 4-. Figure 4 is an end view of Figure 3. Figures 5 and 6 are front and rear elevations 50 of the pawl-actuated wheel for operating the counting mechanism. Figure 7 is an elevation of the pawl-fitted plate seen in Figure 5.

Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating a modification.

Figure 9 is a sectional'elevation of a modi- 5 fication.

Referring particularly to Figure l, the odometer is shown mounted inside the rotating hub e of a wheel, with a driving connection from the non-rotating axle to the stationary member of the registering mechanism.

A corrugated diaphragm a of spring metal is secured peripherally between the front wall 6 and the back wall a of the odometer casing so as to revolve therewith. This may be effected by screws a entering holes a in the periphery of the diaphragm. The diaphragm a is shown with a flat flange at its periphery as at a to fit tightly between the peripheries of the centrally recessed walls 6 c of the casing, the screws a passing through a This corrugated diaphragm is provided at its centre with two members secured together as by soldering so as to be firmly mounted on and movable integrally with the diaphragm a without allowing lubricant to pass through the joint. One of these members is a stem or plunger cl which projects through the front wall I) of the odometer casing into the cover 6 by way of an aperture 6 the other member is a disk 7 having an oblique end face or outer face f The stem cl and disk 7 are on opposite sides of the diaphragm a.

Abutting against the end face 7 is a second disk 9 having an oblique end face 9 this second disk 9 being mounted on the forward end'of a non-rotating stud or spindle h journale'd in the rear wall 0 of the revoluble odometer casing. The disks 7 g are axially alined and the arrangement is such that as the casing b c rotates with the hub of the road wheel, the raised or higher portion of the oblique face f on the stem or plunger d acts upon the raised portion of the inclined face 9 of the disk 9 upon the stationary spindle h, to force the plunger cl forward. As the odometer casing b c continues to rotate, the higher portion of the rotating disk frides down the inclined face of the non-rotating disk 9 on the stationary spindle 7L and the plunger (Z is returned by the reaction of the corrugated spring diaphragm a. Thus a complete reciprocation of the plunger cl takes place at each revolution of the road wheel, with forward and return movements of the plunger, the return movement being produced by thereaction of the diaphragm.

The diaphragm a may be made of mild steel case-hardened or of German silver. The stem or plungerd is secured to. the diaphragm a in such a manner as to be outstanding therefrom and to move therewith. "The stud or spindle h is shown connected by a drivingstar h and pin h tothe stub axle/i, of the vehicle road wheel, while the odometer casing b c rotates with the hub e of the road wheel.

The two disks f g with obliquely inclined faces f g maybe provided with a central steady pin in the axis of the spindle h, in the form, for example, of a central pin or spigot z" in the one disk which enters into a corresponding socket i in the other disk.

One orboth of the contact faces 7 g of the disks may becuppedor recessed,'if desired, as shown at f inFigure 9, to retain lubricant therein. Where the steady pin 2' is provided, the cup or recess f is arranged eccentri'cally.

It will be noted that the stemd acting as a plungeronthe one side of the spring diaphragm a is reciprocated by relative rotary -movement between the inclined cam faces of the two disks 7 g on the other side. Such arrangement prevents seepage of lubricant from the stationary spindle 7i or its bearing in the back wall 0 of the odometer casing through the front wall 1) into the interior of said casing, which creeping or ingress of lubricant would soil the indicating dials and figures of the mechanism.

The plunger stem (Z may, if desired, carry a coiled spring (Z arranged between the dia- 'phragm a and the front wall I) (on which the indicating mechanism is secured) to assist the return movement of the diaphragm and plunger stem.

"The odometer mechanism may be additionally protected by a coating of lacquer or the like provided upon the spring diaphragm a.

The reciprocal strokes of the plunger (Z may be communicated to the counting mecha- 'nismin any convenient manner. For this purpose I=have shown by way of example, a bell crank lever 7070 which is pivoted at k in a pillar, bracket'or other snpportl upon --thetwall Z) of the casing and adjacent to the mounting mechanism. As shown, a trans- .verse blade or-"flat spring we (duplicate'd,"if desired) is arranged upon the casing wall Z2 -so asfto pass across the aperture 5 and secured by means of screws m at one-end,-the other end-being free. Immediately above the ifree end of the'spring m is the 'downturned end of one arm of the bell crank lever. This arm 76 is also engaged by a flat spring a anchored at n to the wall 6 and having a forked end a bearing upon a pin 76 fixed transversely of the arm 70 The arrangement is such that as the plunger moves through the aperture 6 it presses upon the transverse spring on and raises the arm 76 of the pivoted bell crank lever. The spring 1?. bearing upon the pin returns the bell crank as soon as the plunger drecedes through the hole Z9 As the. arm 70 is raised, the arm 70 is depressed; this arm 70 engages a slot 0 in a lug 0 extending laterally from a disk-like plate 0 pivoted centrally at 0 axially of the countingmechanism. The plate 0 is fitted at the ,sideopposite to the lug 0* with a pawl 0 whichas the arm is is depressed, moves the ratchet wheel 19 to the extent of one tooth.

This plate 0 is subjected to an oscillating movement due to the rocking of the bell crank lever 76 70 caused by the reciprocation of the plunger d. as the road wheel revolves, so that the ratchet wheel I) is advanced by onetooth at every revolution of the road wheel.

The ratchet wheel 79 is operatively connected with the counting mechanism M mounted upon the pivot 0 in any usualiand convenient manner, which it is not-necessary to describein detail.

A bracket 9 also mountedon the front wall Z) and supporting the pivot 0 is provided with a spring catch 9 which engages the ratchet wheel p above the operating pawl 0 and prevents it from turning backwards, and also with a finger Q2 which passes transversely across the wheel 79 above, the pawl 0 so as to act as a stop for the said pawl to prevent it from operating the ratchet wheel. 79 to the extent ofmore than one tooth atatime, more especially when the mechanism is-driven at high speed. A pillar 7" having a nut or adjustable screw-threaded head r and a fixed bottom collar 1 limits the strokeof the arm 70 and lugo of the plate 0 and therefore the extent. of the oscillating movement of the plate 0.

In the case of a rotary shafth and a nonrotating odometer casing?) 0,the reciprocating stem or plunger (Z may be driven by the engagement ofits stationary obliquely inclined face 7 with the complementary faceg of the obliquely inclined disk 9 connected to the rotaryshaft' by means of-the St2LI"h 2tI1d3 12O driving pin, the contacting faces of the disks being setat a suitable angle of inclination to the, axis of rotation.

In the arrangement shown diagrammatically in Figure 8, the rotary disk 9 ha in g-,

an obliquely inclined operating face 9 is mounted upon the cheekof a gear wheel 25 so as to rotate therewith, and this gear wheel is in .mesh with a pinion t on the driving shaft h. The stem-of the plunger 03 secured to the spring diaphragm a bears upon the oblique operating face 9 of the rotary disk 9 and is preferably alined with the shaft of the driving pinion t The front wall 6 of the casing is shown in Figure 1 provided with a detachable cover 8 extending over the counting mechanism and provided with inspection windows 8 8 through which the figures on the wheels of the counting mechanism M can be viewed.

What I claim is 1. In an odometer, a registering mechanism, a mechanical means for actuating said mechanism, said means operatively connected to said mechanism through an impervious diaphragm by means rigid with and sealed to said diaphragm.

2. In an odometer, a registering mechanism, a cam means for changing rotary motion into reciprocating motion, a diaphragm, means rigid with and sealed to said diaphragm for conveying said reciprocating motion through said diaphragm to said mecha- 1118111.

3. In an odometer, the combination of a spring diaphragm, a reciprocable plunger centrally mounted on one side of said diahragm, a disk having an obliquely inclined face on the other side of said diaphragm, a second disk having an obliquely inclined face in contact with said first disk, and means for rotating one of said disks while holding the other disk against rotation.

4. In a registering apparatus comprising a counting mechanism, the combination of two members each comprising a disk with an operative face inclined obliquely to the axis of the disk, said members being engaged together by contact of their inclined faces, one of said members being non-rotatable and the other of said members being rotatable, means for positively rotating said last mentioned member, a spring diaphragm, one of said members being secured to said spring diaphragm, a plunger projecting from said diaphragm on the side remote from the other of said members, andmeans operated by said plunger for actuating the counting mechanism.

5. A registering apparatus, comprising a counting mechanism, a corrugated spring metal diaphragm, a flanged periphery to said corrugated diaphragm, a two-part casing carrying said diaphragm, said casing including a recessed front wall on which the counting mechanism is secured and also a recessed back wall, said flanged periphery of the diaphragm being held between the peripheries of said recessed front and back walls, a plunger centrally mounted on one side of said diaphragm, means for transmitting the movement in one direction of said plunger to said counting mechanism, a disk secured to the opposite side of said diaphragm and having an obliquely inclined outer face, a

second disk having an obliquely inclined face in contact with said first mentioned disk, a coiled spring between said diaphragm and said front wall of the diaphragm-carrying casing, and means for rotating one of said disks while holding the other against rotation, the return movement of the plunger being effected by the reaction of said spring diaphragm and of said coiled spring.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature.

SAMUEL DUNSEITH MoKELLEN. 

